Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it- Proverbs 22:6
With Caleb we found it easy to teach him and encourage him in the way of the Lord. We had a great support system with his private Christian school. He had weekly chapel services, bible based examples in classroom work, Bible class homework, and so much more. We took him to church and spent time reviewing the lessons he had learned at school. Ingraining the teachings of the Bible came easily for us with Caleb because it really took so little effort.
With Madilyn I have come to realize that we have not been doing a great job with training her up the right way. Madilyn attends public school, so there is no support for religious training coming from them. Sure we go to church but Sunday morning Sunday School will not achieve the directive of this verse. Children need repetition and once a week is just not enough. She sees the way we live which is a testament, but still that is not enough. She sees both David and I studying our Bibles, but we spend very little time reading the Bible to her. We have got to get better at reading with her and encouraging her to read and pray.
This week I took her to The Christian Book Store and let her pick out a Bible. I wanted her to have a NIV Life Study BIble that was age appropriate. They had a larger selection for pre-teens, but she found one she liked for ages 6-9. She picked out the Children’s Adventure Bible. She wanted pink but settled for blue and brown since they did not have any pink in stock. She was so excited to pick out her own Bible and to have her name engraved on the cover. She also picked out a very “girly” Bible carrying case. When we arrived at home she could not wait to show it to David and Caleb. The plan is to read to her and have discussions with her on a regular basis in order to help her grow.